Grand Prix 2012 British Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

After a Grand Prix in Valencia which was probably better than all the others put together it shows that F1 2012 is completely mad. For the first time this season there is a driver with 2 wins after Fernando Alonso benefited from a retirement from Vettel and any pressure from behind was gone when Grosjean lost drive not long after Vettel stopped. The big talking point came on the penultimate lap involving Maldonado and Hamilton which resulted in Hamilton being pitched into the wall and Maldonado lost a podium which seemed pretty certain as it was only a matter of time before he passed the McLaren who had fallen off the cliff.

Without the safety car it was likely that Vettel would have won at a canter as he was a long way ahead before the race changing event in the middle of the race, but he pulled up soon after the restart gifting Alonso the lead and he would keep this until the end of the race, and because of Hamilton's issues he inherited the lead of the Championship with Mark Webber's fourth place meaning he jumped up into second place. Perhaps the biggest shock of the weekend was a first podium for Michael Schumacher since his return to the sport in 2010. Both his and Webber's strategy meant they were able to come through the field and claim major points just like Alonso did as all three started outside the top 10.

Fernando Alonso's victory marks a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for Ferrari as he stormed to victory in a car which was barely faster than the midfield cars at the start of the season, but now the car is as consistently fast as the Lotuses and the McLarens, certainly in race trim anyway but not quite up to the level of the Red Bulls as shown in the early race but we've still yet to see a straight fight between Alonso and Vettel which would provide a true reflection of where the teams are at.

Once again Lotus had the pace for a victory and had Grosjean not have retired he could well have possibly claimed a maiden win for him and the team. Kimi Raikkonen spent most of the race stuck behind Hamilton which prevented him from having a shot at Alonso and by the time he got past there were just a few laps remaining and claimed a comfortable second place which he said underwhelmed him, although since when has he ever been anything but that!?

Looking ahead to the British Grand Prix the atmosphere will once again be fever pitch as McLaren could well be in their best position yet to compete for victory with the high speed corners suiting the MP4-27 and knowing the British summer it could well be a cool day which will suit the car even better and both Hamilton and Button will be fighting for the win. Jenson Button has had a horrid record at Silverstone with no podium finishes in the 12 years he has been driving in Formula One. Hamilton has a better record with podiums in 2007 and 2010 and a famous win in the wet in 2008 where he destroyed the competition.

I know that quite a few members from this site are going to the grand prix and I hope that you all have a great weekend, providing McLaren can nail down their pit stops there is a very good chance that a British driver could be at the top step of the podium, or who knows, if Lotus can finally find the sweetspot then perhaps an eighth winner can be on the cards!

For Galahad's brilliant circuit write up - http://cliptheapex.com/pages/silverstone-circuit/
 
Great circuit pic Speshal

Jos the Boss, that's definitely the right map (the big aerial shot from Speshal, that is). The new pits complex, which was not yet built when that photo was shot, is on the straight from Club up to Abbey with its entry lane at Vale and its exit lane rejoining the track just about at the point of the bubble around the words 'Farm Curve'. The DRS activation zone has been confirmed for 2012 as along the Wellington straight, with the detection zone just before Village.
 
They may not be expecting it but if they haven't pulled their fingers out of their own bottoms,
the result is still going to be a Red Bull victory.

McLaren have produced the grand total of ZIP in upgrades so far this season.

Seems like they might be following the crowd with a stepped nose, perhaps developing it used up their resources so they couldn't produce many other upgrades in the meantime.

McLaren stepped nose.webp
 
Can't remember the aerodynamicist who said a couple of years ago it was the most important part of an F1 car and the part open to the greatest development. He was British and with one of the leading teams. I'll try and track down his name if I can find the interview with him.
 
about the only part on the car the aerodynamicists can play with.

Judging from the developments that Newey has been bringing to the Red Bull, it appears the rear "coke-bottle" portion of the car is just as important aerodynamically. The area just in front of the rear tires is utterly crucial for directing the airflow to the diffuser. This is also where Ferrari has made great gains. They introduced the new setup at Mugello and they have clawed back over half a second since.
 
The reason the front wing is considered the most important aerodynamically is simple. It directs the airflow over the entire car. In reality of course the entire aero package has to be complimentary.
 
I guess it's like a knife. It needs to be sharp at it's cutting edge but if it's not backed up by an appropriate blade then it will not be fit for purpose.
 
I appreciate the importance of the front wing to the overall performance of the car I just think it's gone too far. Also, if the FIA want to reduce cornering speeds then wouldn't further regulation of the size and number of elements in the front wing be a good place to start?
 
I die a little inside every time I hear talk of introducing regulations that will make the cars slower.

Forecast is for showers across the whole weekend, going to be interesting! Hope McLaren are on the pace.
 
My main concern is if the rain is like it has been today up north we may not see any decent running. Mylander is my tip for the fastest lap.
 
I don't see what the problem is. Ridiculous by what measure? They are a highly crafted piece of kit designed to do their job as best as possible.
 
There was a discussion on front wings during FP1 on the red button on the Beeb this morning.

They commented that they had never known so many new wings being introduced as there have been this season. An estimate of the cost to design, make and test a new one is £100,000 to £120,000. This is obviously very difficult for teams on a lower budget, whereas RBR have probably introduced more than anyone else.

They then talked about why they are so important and the difficulty of testing them, wind tunnel tests are only a guide when it comes to the part in front of the wheel. It is the wheel that is the problem, it acts as an aero blocking device. It is possible to design them such that the air flow is very good and gives excellent straight line performance, but then when the wheel is turned the difference in the air flow can make the wing stall, reducing the downforce and hence slowing the car down through corners. So the only effective means of testing is to run them on the car, hence the amount of running that the teams do on Fridays.
 
Not this Friday.

The GP2 session was red flagged three times and eventually cancelled.
There's a good chance FP2 could be similarly disrupted.

Why don't they change the calender and hold the British GP in the summer to avoid this sort of problem?
Oh wait...
 
The Beeb are forecasting light rain for the pm session. So maybe the extra intermediate tyres will be used. If it were to rain like this morning for the whole weekend then it would be quite possible that drivers doing a fair bit of setup and making it all the way through qualifying on full wets could run out of tyres during the race.
 
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